Belly-button magic: cord blood aids Cerebral Palsy toddler

Chloe Levine's cerebral palsy symptoms left after a cord blood infusion (photo by her mom)

By Chloe Levine’s first birthday, her parents learned their daughter was afflicted with cerebral palsy. Luckily, not only had her parents banked stem cells from Chloe’s umbilical cord at her birth, but also professor Dr. Joanne Kurtzberg of Duke University was conducting a study where children with cerebral palsy were injected with their own cord blood cells.

Fox news reports: “On May 28, 2008, at the age of 2, Chloe received a 15-minute infusion of her stem cells… Within four days, her parents saw a noticeable difference, although Kurtzberg said most kids show benefits three to nine months later. “Her life is completely normal, she doesn’t drag her right foot, she can use her right hand,” Jenny Levine said. “She rides a bike, a scooter…we’re taking her skiing this year. She’s fabulous.” ”

Stem cells from bone marrow have been used for about 40 years, primarily in the treatment of blood diseases, cancers and immune disorders, but there are certain advantages to using stem cells from one’s own umbilical cord.

The process is simple and painless. Private companies are willing to collect and store a newborn’s umbilical cord cells, for a fee. Unfortunately, Kansas is still one of 28 states WITHOUT any hospitals that do cell collections for the free national public cord blood bank.

Non-embryonic stem cell treatments–including those from cord blood– are changing lives as witnessed in anew national educational campaign kicked off in Kansas City this past weekend, hosted by Dr. David Prentice and patients discussing how stem cells saved their lives.

Past hype about unethical –and non-productive– embryonic stem cell research is being eclipsed by news of innovative stem cell treatments and therapies from blood, skin, and umbilical cord blood!